The thief and the vigilante
by Starnova1122
Summary: Ezra and Sabine. The perfect couple. But family feuds, devious ISB agents and just plain bad luck seek to tear them apart. Can they stick together through it all and live happily ever after? Or is it three strikes and your out for Ezra Bridger? (Warning: sequel to Vortex, read that one first.)
1. Prequel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Star Wars Rebels, nor any characters, places, or content that appears in this story. This is a fanfiction and does not necessarily comply with the actual Star Wars timeline. Rated T for romance and violence.**

 **This story is a sequel to Vortex, so read that one first to catch up.**

Ezra Bridger sat in the living room of the Ghost, playing Divvorac on the Holotable with Sabine and Chopper. Ezra frowned, and twisted several knobs on the side of the table, causing a pack of his Acklays to make a sudden and brutal introduction with several of Choppers hunters. Sabine watched happily as the small people on the board broke off and ran in different directions, screaming like little baby's. She pressed a few buttons, and a giant Reek bounded into play, and educated the remaining hunters in the word 'dissection.' Chopper flung his metallic hands into the air, and let out several beeps and whistles Sabine knew to mean:

" _No fair! You always take his side._ "

"All's fair in love and war," Ezra smirked. "And this is a bit of both." As Sabine put her arm around him. If he had known who was standing in the doorway, listening to them, he might have chosen his words different. But as it happened, Kanan clicked his tongue, and stormed out.

Hera knew the trouble was starting from the start. She heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway, and then the door opened, and Kanan stormed into the cockpit, and flopped down into a chair. Hera sighed, and rolled her eyes. She knew what was causing Kanans temper, and she quite wished he would just drop it.

They both sat in silence for several minutes, until Hera spoke up.

"When are you going to stop tailing those two? It's starting to get on my nerves."

"Oh, really?" Kanan snapped back. "Well, you've certainly been the picture of self-restraint until now."

Hera sighed. Kanan had been keeping an eye on Sabine and Ezra for several months now, ever since they became a couple. His temper had also shortened, especially after some of his 'observations'.

Ezra returned to his room, or rather, his and Sabine's shared room. He dropped onto his bed, and got out a holopad. Sabine entered soon after, drew a canvas from under her bed, and grabbed her Spray Painter. As she painted, she heard Ezra speaking.

"Do you ever think Kanan is trying to keep us apart?"

She stared at him. He looked up from his holopad, and was staring at her with a questioning look.

"No, why?"

"Well, it just occurred to me that Kanan has barely ever left us alone together. And it just feels like he's always trying to separate us."

Sabine thought to herself. It was true, she realised. Every time they had taken a mission, Kanan seemed to be doing his best to give them separate assignments. And it was true that Kanan had been watching them as much as possible.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. He has been a bit short-tempered lately.

"Hera told me that he reminded her of you during The Despair."

"Don't blame me, I was just worried for you. YOU were near insane!"

Ezra sighed, and shook his head.

"Aaaah… I deserve that.

Meanwhile, back in the cockpit of the Ghost, Kanan was fighting a losing battle.

"-not doing this to be mean, Hera, I'm just… Looking out for him."

"Kanan, he's not a kid anymore. And from the stories he's been telling us, he's more experienced than you!"

"I'm not worried about his experience, Hera, I'm worried about his heart."

"You're worried about his heart? Well why not let them be together then? Look at them, Kanan."

"Oh I've been looking at them, Hera, and I'll tell you what I see. A Jedi in way over his depth and a girl who's already been heartbroken by him THREE TIMES!"

"Look, Kanan, don't you dare go blaming that on Ezra. He saved all of our lives, and the other two times were basically your fault!"

"MY fault?"

"If you had trained him better, he wouldn't have gotten a depressed conscience, and wouldn't have thought we'd be happy he was dead!"

Kanan spluttered, and sank lower in his chair.

A few days later, Kanan visited the two teenaged rebels. Ezra was in the middle of telling Sabine the story of the LSF's capture of Pizlor Garrella. Sabine loved hearing the stories of Ezra's adventures, and he loved telling them, as he had been cooped up for nearly three years with no one to tell them too. Kanan stood in the doorway, giving Ezra the look that scorches, until he fell silent.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything." Kanan said in a low voice.

"No, Ezra was just telling me another story." Sabine replied, looking as though she was just hoping he would go away.

"Well, we've got a mission, if your interested. Feel like creating a little pandemonium?"

Ezra looked at Sabine. She had that mischievous look in her eyes, the kind Ezra knew well.

"Pandemonium? Count me in!"

"Well if she's in, then I'm in too."

Ezra really should have picked his words better, and Kanan had to bit really hard down on his tongue to keep himself from shouting. He just left the two to get ready.

As soon as he was gone, Sabine started putting on her armour, while Ezra got out his comlink.

"Rawthron? Yeah… I'm gonna need some new toys."


	2. Presents

"This satellite just dropped out of lightspeed above Lothal. It's slowly orbiting the planet, and is maneuvering into position."

As Kanan spoke, a hologram flickered up from the table, showing a large Imperial Attack Satellite.

"So, it's an imperial creation. Could just be standby. You know, reinforcements." Zeb said.

"No. It serves a much more sinister purpose. It's targeting Tarkintown."

Everyone in the room drew a sharp gasp.

"Their planning… A genocide?" Gasped Sabine.

"Yes, and we need to destroy it before it can destroy the town. Now, here's the plan:

"The satellite cannot be taken out by ground-to-air fire, as we have no weapon that can reach that far. It also has several Turbolaser Anti-Freighter guns on the surface, which would rip apart the Ghost in seconds."

"Fortunately, there is a solution." Put in Ezra. "I got in touch with Rawthron, and he was able to get our hands on some, er… Fancy toys."

Ezra led them outside, where a happy sight stood just on a clearing near the ghost.

Or rather, four happy sights.

Starfighters.

Ezra led them among them, pointing out each fighter.

"I managed to get these from the LSF, one for Kanan, one for Zeb, one for Sabine, and here's mine."

They stopped at a sleek and powerful-looking ship, with several laser cannons, and from the look of it, a torpedo launcher. He walked on past that, and came to a ship Kanan knew well.

"Here's yours Kanan. An Eta-2 Actis-class Jedi Interceptor, from the Clone Wars."

Kanan stared. It was sleek and looked almost brand-new, despite being out of service for years. The ship was painted in his colours of green and black, and looked almost exactly like his old ship.

"We salvaged it from a debri field in the outer rim. Brought it back here, repaired it, painted it, and now it's yours."

Ezra left Kanan to get ready, and led the other two past the Interceptor, and to another ship. This one was bigger than the others, and by the looks of it, heavier. It didn't look like any starfighter Sabine had ever seen, but Zeb gasped in amazement.

"Yup. I know your kind didn't really do starfighters, but I checked the schematics of your other ships, and we found a starfighter very similar to those. You should be familiar with the controls."

Leaving Zeb with his ship, Ezra took Sabine to an empty area behind his fighter.

"So where's my ship?" Asked Sabine, staring at Ezra who had stopped, and appeared to be leaning against something that wasn't there.

"Your looking at it. Two steps forward and you'd actually be kissing it."

He knocked on the air behind him, and Sabine was surprised to hear a metallic clang clang echo throughout the air. He pressed something on his datapad, and the air behind him waved and distorted, and in a second, he was not leaning against nothing, but the body of another ship.

"Cloaking device. Meet the RSV-class Stealth Attack Fighter, Night Shadow."

It was black, and seemingly smaller than the other ships, with four powerful-looking laser cannons mounted on the wings, and two smaller homing missile launchers on the underside. Sabine walked around it, studying every angle. It looked like an X-Wing, but without the four wings, only two, and bigger engines and weapons.

"Sixty Edo Homing Rockets on the underside, two EMP Mines and four Cluster EMP rockets. It's the fastest ship we have."

Sabine looked around wordlessly, and then hugged Ezra.

"Wow, this is amazing! Thank you."

"This is Red Leader. All wings, report in."

"This is Wing One. All systems go." Said Kanan.

"Wing Two, standing by." Said Sabine.

"I copy, Ezra. Let's do this!" Exclaimed Zeb.

"Grey Squadron, do you copy?"

"Yes sir! Grey Squadron, assuming fighter escort positions!"

"Then let's go. All wings, form up. Fighter escort, cover us, we're going in!"

And with that, four starships, plus a squadron of Z-95 Headhunters, broke orbit and entered space, the Ghost following behind.

"This is Hera, standing by. You guys have fun out there!"

"Roger, Hera, stand by for my signal to enter the battle. Fighters, come with me. It's time!"

And with that, the starfighters broke off from the freighter, and shot towards the satellite.


	3. Attack!

"This is Red Leader. All wings, report in."

"This is Wing One. All systems go." Said Kanan.

"Wing Two, standing by." Said Sabine.

"I copy, Ezra. Let's do this!" Exclaimed Zeb.

"Grey Squadron, do you copy?"

"Yes sir! Grey Squadron, assuming fighter escort positions!"

"Then let's go. All wings, form up. Fighter escort, cover us, we're going in!"

And with that, four starships, plus a squadron of Z-95 Headhunters, broke orbit and entered space, the Ghost following behind.

"This is Hera, standing by. You guys have fun out there!"

"Roger, Hera, stand by for my signal to enter the battle. Fighters, come with me. It's time!"

And with that, the starfighters broke off from the freighter, and shot towards the satellite.

Imperial Attack Satellite No.15723 was under attack.

The assault had come at lightning speed, a squadron of fighters plus backup had appeared not from hyperspace, but seemingly from the planet itself. Worse of all, they were winning.

Ezra sat in the cockpit of his modified XT-37 starfighter, and watched as the battle progressed.

The fighters had attacked at full strength, shattering the fighter defence and destroying the turrets. Now, he flipped right and blew the wing clean off a TIE fighter. Switching on his comm, he heard the transmissions from his pilots as they pushed the TIE's back and back.

"I got one on my tail!"

"Break off, I'll get him."

"My radars out, can't shake this guy!"

"Stay on target… Stay on… Yeah!"

"Woohoo! Thanks!"

"I got one!"

"My wings ou… Argh-"

"Ezra, there's a bogey on your tail!"

Ezra looked behind him. Zeb was right. A TIE Interceptor was on his tail, mercilessly firing on Ezra's ship.

"Oh, yeah, just gotta… Rrg… Arrrr… Can't shake him! I can't shake him! He's too fast, he's…"

"DEAD!" Came a voice over his comm, and the Interceptor exploded in a fireball of debri and smoke. Ezra looked out of his window. He could see nothing at first, but then the space beside him became distorted and next minute, Sabine's ship was there.

"Thanks Sabine."

"Now we're even!"

Ezra had been about to reply, when with a yell, two of his wingmen burst into flame. They screamed over the comm, then fell silent, and lasers rocked the ship, sending a small burst of flame out from the wing of Sabine's ship.

"Be careful, that's an expensive ship!"

Sabine had been about to reply, but stopped.

"What is that!"

Four more ships had just emerged from the satellite, and we're heading towards the crew. Ezra's comm crackled.

"Playtime is over, 'rebels'.

"Commander had ordered us to take you down."

"Ezra! Long time no see!"

"The Empire's enemy is my enemy!"

"Just what I need to see." Moaned Ezra. "Wolfren."

"Who?" Asked Kanan over the comm.

"Group of mercenaries, armed, very dangerous. I ran into them once or twice during the LSF days. Ok, new plan. Sabine, Zeb, Kanan, break off. Let's get 'em!"

The four advanced starfighters broke apart and charged the rebels. In seconds, the area was a huge battleground. Each of the mercenaries had attacked a different rebel. Garla was tailing Zeb, Tailug was gunning on Kanan, Sabine was being attacked by Dogma, and that left Ezra with the strong and powerful leader called Artimus.

Zeb's ship shook as he desperately tried to shake his pursuer. His fighter was heavier than his opponents, and slower too, so it was easy for Garla to get behind Zeb, and he was now mercilessly firing on his enemy. Zeb swerved and rolled, but his pursuer matched his every move. Desperate, he accidently knocked a button on the dashboard but he didn't know what it did. At once, he felt the ship rock, and then saw Garla's ship fly past his own. This confused Zeb, until he looked at the engine readouts. The button had killed all power to them, and the sudden stopping had made Garla zoom past him. He rallied on the moment, and grabbing the triggers, took aim with the laser cannon.

Kanan was winning his battle.

Although Tailug's ship was fast, he was faster, and was out manouvering the mercenary at every turn. The problem seemed to be in actually causing any damage, as the mercenary had diverted all power to shields, and it was working. Every bolt Kanan cast was deflected, while the Jedi Interceptor was steadily taking damage from Tailug's lucky shots. Several readouts on Kanan's ship were beeping furiously, when he suddenly swooped upwards. Tailug quickly followed, and was now right behind Kanan, when the Jedi let out on a tremendous burst of speed, and stalled.

Although they were in space, they were still in the planets atmosphere and stalling was still possible. Kanan stalled, and began to fall right towards Tailug's ship, lasers firing furiously. Just as Tailug realised what Kanan was doing, a shot hit the cockpit, and he disintegrated along with his ship.

Artimus was furiously fighting Ezra when two bursts of light in the distance signalled the death of Garla and Tailug. Looking to his right he just saw Dogma. His ship was in flames, and suddenly, a loud 'AAAARRGH' echoed on his comm and the ship slammed into the side of the satellite. Artimus gritted his teeth and continued his attack. Both ships swooped and rolled, desperately trying to stay in the fight, for even a split-second mistake was deadly in the fight. Then, Artimus gained the user hand.

Ezra flipped,and rolled right into Artimus's lasers. The blast blew Ezra's stabilisers off, and suddenly, he was relying on just his steering to keep himself alive. When, suddenly, Artimus yelled, and one of his wings caught fire.

Sabine had roared into the fight, lasers blasting as she nearly blew Artimus's wing clean off. Ezra was at her side in seconds, and blasted the mercenaries engines out. Red lights came on all in his cockpit as his ship slowly began to dip towards the planet below.

Wolfren was doomed.

Artimus desperately radioed the satellite as his ship plummeted towards Lothal.

"Lost… Everyone… No… Survivors… Can't, pull… Out… I'm sorry,

I…

Failed…

You."

No one watched as his ship smashed into Lothal. No one was watching at the exact moment of his death.


	4. Lost

Ezra was already continuing the plan as Artimus died. He and Sabine swooped into the hanger, leaving Kanan, Zeb, and the Ghost to clean up the fighters. Ezra lept from the cockpit of his fighter, and Force Pushed three stormtroopers across the room, while Sabine used a concussion grenade and blasted the other two into unconsciousness. The two sprinted through the door of the hanger, and into the hallways.

Up on the bridge, an ISB agent watched the security cameras with intrest. He watched two unknown starfighters land in the hanger, and their pilots decimate the troopers. He observed, in particular, the blue-haired youth. He was apparently a Jedi. The agent smiled. He **must** have that Jedi. But how? He ran his hands over the many scars on his face. The Jedi were more powerful than any trooper. Even him. But then he saw something else. The two reached a divide in the hallways, and after wishing the other one, (who was a female) luck, the Jedi hugged her briefly, and they split up. The agent smiled. They were close. That was lucky.

"Commander?" He called to a trooper in shiny armour, as though he polished it daily.

"Yes sir?"

"Tell all stormtroopers near the hanger to fall back, bring two of your best men, and come with me."

Ezra blocked two shots, and sent them back at the Auto-Turrets. He threw his lightsaber in a pinwheel motion at a squad of troopers, causing them to dive for cover. He expertly caught it, and slashed the console in front of him. Immediately, the weapon systems shut down, and everything from powerful Turbolasers to small Auto-Turrets fell silent. He blocked two more shots, and then, turning on his heels, ran from the room. As he ran through the corridors, a squad of troopers blocked his way, but before they had even raised their blasters, a huge blast rocked the ship, sending them all flying down the hallways. Ezra grabbed a pipe from the ceiling, to steady himself as the ship turned onto an angle. He smiled. Sabine had crippled the satellite. He steadied himself, and carried on.

Hera just got the all-clear signal from Ezra when the ship was crippled. A huge explosion blew away part of the vessel, and smaller explosions further danced across the surface, like raindrops across a frozen pond. Hera immediately roared into battle, and together with the starfighters, began her attack on the station.

Ezra ran, turning corridors and weaving through debris until he reached the hanger. At the same time, Sabine burst through the door next to him, and both realised they had a big problem.

The starfighters.

One was destroyed, the other mortally crippled. There was no way either would work. The two ran to the edge of the Ray Shield, and frantically searched the hanger for anything flyable.

Just then, the door opened, and the ISB agent, a commander, and two stormtroopers rushed into the room.

Just as the two teenaged rebels thought they were doomed, salvation came.

The Ghost roared through the Shield, and Chopper, in the gun pod, blasted the lasers at the pursuers. The stormtroopers and the commander were blasted into shreds, but the ISB agent just dive-rolled out of the way in time. The ship couldn't land, there wasn't enough time. The loading ramp opened, and Kanan stood there, yelling at the rebels to get on board. Ezra grabbed Sabine's hand, and Force Jumped for the ramp. He pulled Sabine through the air, and for a moment, it seemed they might make it…

…

…

…

But something grabbed Sabine by the collar.

Her hand slipped out of Ezra's, and she fell backwards. Ezra hit the ramp, HARD, on his shoulder, and looked back.

His heart almost stopped.

Sabine was there, still in the hanger, and in the clutches of the ISB agent. Ezra screamed in protest. He caught one look of the agents snarling, triumphant face, and then the ramp closed, and the ship left the hanger.

"Yeah! We did it!"

"We got 'em on the run!"

The satellite moved out of orbit, and jumped to lightspeed. The Ghost, and the surviving Z-95 Headhunters headed out towards Lothal. Hera punched the air in celebration, and leaned into the ship loudspeaker.

"The satellite just left the system. We did it! Good work Sabine! And you too Ezra!"

But Ezra didn't answer. He slumped against the closed ramp, and slid to the floor, where he curled up with his back against the ramp, and cried until his eyes ran dry.


	5. I'll find you

"We have to go back for her."

"It's too dangerous."

"We can't leave her!"

"We won't, but we can't go back now."

"Why not? They have her!"

"We need to regroup and resupply."

"That'll take too long."

"We don't even know where they are!"

"Their torturing her!"

"You don't know that."

"I can sense it."

"I sensed nothing of the sort. We need time to-"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME! THEIR GONNA KILL HER!"

Hera heard the voices coming down the corridor, and then the sound of heavy footsteps storming off back down. The door opened, and Kanan slumped into a chair. They sat there for a while, before Hera broke the silence.

"You know, the kids right."

"Oh, don't you start Hera!" Snapped Kanan.

"Kanan, you're missing the point. Sabine has been captured. They will be torturing her now, and don't give me that look, you know what they're after. They'll get what they need, and kill her."

"I don't doubt it Hera, it's just, if we go back now, we all die. We'll rescue her when we can."

"What?" Exclaimed Hera. "you think they'll just sit around and wait for us? Kanan, the faster they get what they want, the better. They get info, break our spirit, and we lose one of our best. Win-win for them. Ezra knows, he-"

"Oh don't start about him!" Groaned Kanan. "That kid has no idea what he's in for. He's in way over his head and he hasn't stopped. He doesn't understand, he's too young."

Hera stared at him for a moment.

"He doesn't understand? Or you?"

"What?" Choked Kanan, temporarily forgetting he was in a fight.

"You may not like it, but there's things that you still don't understand. Like attachment."

"Attachment is bad for a Jedi. That what I understand. In fact, I don't see-" he was cut off as the monitor started beeping, and one of the red flashing lights came on. "What is that?"

Hera checked the readouts.

"The Phantom's just detached. Looks like Ezra agrees with me."

Kanan sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're kidding me. Is that kid INSANE?!"

"He was once," said Hera. "And Sabine risked her life to save him. Maybe it's time for him to repay the favour."

In the Phantom, Ezra sat back in the chair. The autopilot had been engaged, and he stood up, and left. He sat in the passenger area of the modified escape pod, crossed his legs, and meditated.

He saw nothing at first, just blackness and… Screaming. Someone was screaming. A girl. A girl Ezra knew well. He could hear her. She was in pain. Ezra clenched his fists, and tried to see more. A Star Destroyer. Orbiting a planet he recognised. Lothal. He could see it. The prison cells. Block AC-21. Cell 209. There was an ISB agent. And an interrogator droid. It stepped forward, and raised its Electrostaff. The girl screamed…

Ezra sat up, and gasped. He had fallen off the chair, and lay, panting, on the floor, covered in sweat. He lay there for a second, and then jumped up suddenly. He ran to the cockpit, and set new coordinates. Sitting back in his chair, he watched the stars turn to blinding streaks of light, and wispered:

"Don't worry, Sabine, I'll find you."

"Whatever it takes."


	6. Rescue

The Star Destroyer in orbit above Lothal was having a lazy day.

Stormtroopers duly swapped stories while standing ill-at-ease on guard duty. Officers sat at their stations, either having a loud chat about the good old days with fellow comrades, or trying to steal in a good nap. In fact, everyone was so relaxed they barely even noticed when an Imperial Shuttle dropped out of lightspeed and hailed the Destroyer. Captain Ornais Rowman stood in the bridge, and answered the hail.

"This is Imperial Star Destroyer _Nebula_ , please identify."

"Imperial Shuttle _Resurrection_ , transporting the rebel who surrendered to us earlier today. He was armed with an unknown device. Permission to dock."

Their was silence over the com for a while, and then an answer.

"Granted. Report to lower hanger, two stormtroopers will meet you there."

The shuttle docked with the Destroyer, and opened the ramp. As promised, two stormtroopers were waiting there. An imperial officer walked down the ramp, flanked by two others. He was guiding a prisoner, a Lothalian in an orange jumpsuit. He had blue hair, and his hands were bound behind his back with a pair of magnacuffs.

"This rebel surrendered to us earlier today. He was armed, only with this." The officer produced a lightsaber, and handed it to one of the stormtroopers. The other roughly grabbed Ezra, and the two troopers left the hanger.

In a cell on the Star Destroyer, Sabine Wren screamed in pain.

The interrogator droid lowered his Electrostaff, and spoke.

"You are weakening. You decide when the pain will stop. Just give me the information."

Sabine glared at the droid with a look of utter hatred.

"No imperial... could ever... break... me."

The droid raised its hand. In the middle, where its palm should be, their was a short sharp spike.

"Say goodbye… To those beautiful eyes."

On another part of the ship, several stormtroopers were crowded around a boy, clasped in magnacuffs, who seemed to be attracting a great deal of attention.

"I will tell you one more time," the boy said, staring daggers at a stormtrooper. "I haven't come here to rot in a pitiful cell. I have come for a friend of mine. Now release these binders and take me to her, or die along with your crew."

The trooper was holding the boy's lightsaber, and waggled it just out of his reach.

"Oh no you don't. You're not in a very good position to make threats, Jedi."

"I'm in a better position than you." The boy replied, and all his onlookers burst out laughing.

"I don't think so." One of the troopers whacked the boy from behind, and he grunted in pain. The head trooper laughed.

"Not so tough without your lightsaber, are we now?"

The boy smiled humorlessly.

"That's for me to decide."

At once, all the troopers suddenly felt a great tug on their blasters, as though an invisible magnet was pinning them to the wall. The boy leapt up, and stood watching as the troopers fought to pry their weapons from the wall where they now lay. Then one of them, who understood Jedi, ran at the boy from behind. The speedy rogue was too fast, however, flipping over the clumsy punch and flooring the man with two kicks to his kneecap. He screamed in pain, as his partner went to follow up on the move, was sidestepped, and had a fast chop delivered to the back of his neck, in between the helmet and armour. He choked and spluttered, falling onto his knees as he watched the boy execute a serious roundhouse kick that knocked another man clean out, and slammed two troopers heads together, the same way he'd seen Zeb do it several times. There were only six more troopers in the room right now, and he got two with a snake-like death grip, then simply picked one off the ground and hurled him at the last three. He grabbed his lightsaber/blaster hybrid from the unconscious lieutenant, and ran off down the corridor.

Sabine struggled against the Ray Shield, as the droids palm loomed closer and closer, the sharp spike looking even more menacing. When, all of a sudden, the door opened, and the new sight made even the droid freeze.

Ezra stood in the doorway, lightsaber activated, looking for all the world like they had actually killed the girl. He stared for a split second, and charged.

The guards were the first to go. He picked them up with the Force and threw them against the wall. He grabbed the officer next, but so great was his rage that he drew the man towards him and impaled him on his lightsaber. The man's gasp fell silent as the light faded from his eyes. He looked at the droid, with the outstretched hand, and sliced it clean in half. It's metallic scream went on long after it had been killed.

"Noooooooo-"

"Ezra!"

Ezra slashed at the console, and Sabine fell into his arms. He hugged her.

"You came back." She whispered.

"I couldn't leave you." He replied. "But we have to get out of here. Can you walk?"

"Uh… Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good. This way."

Ezra led her out of the door, and down the hallways. He was sprinting, and Sabine was hard put to keep up with him.

"*puff* *pant* why the rush?" She called out to him.

"I activated the self-destruct before coming here."

"Oh, oka… Wait, Star Destroyers don't have a self-destruct!"

"I know, right? Serious oversight. So I made them one."

Sabine rolled her eyes when, with a loud BOOM, the whole ship shook, and debri began to rain from the ceiling.

"Blasted Detpacks," muttered Ezra. "Can never go off when I want them to."

They rounded the corner, and came to a divide in the corridors. Ezra went left, but Sabine started right.

"Where are you going?" Sabine called out. "The escape pods are THIS way!"

"And the hanger is THIS way!" Yelled Ezra back. "I locked down the escape pods before coming."

Sabine marvelled at her boyfriend's brilliance, and the two thundered down the corridor towards the hanger.

When the two rebels entered the hanger, chaos was already bearing it's ugly head.

Pilots ran in every direction, trying desperately to get to their ships. But the Destroyer was falling apart in earnest now, and ships were getting hid by debris or overloading their electrical circuits. The Lothalian and the Mandalorian stared desperately around the hanger, before Ezra's eyes fell upon the very thing.

"There! That Bomber!"

He pointed, and both started running full tilt towards the TIE Bomber Ezra had pointed out. An imperial pilot was also trying to get to it, but Ezra shot him in the back and leaped over his body.

"This time, I'm making sure you come with me!" He exclaimed, and opening one of the hatches, he practically chucked Sabine into it, before closing it and jumping into the other one.

Ezra sat in the cockpit, and stared around at the console.

"Okay, I've flown one of these before, back in the LSF days, so here it is. I've got movement and primary cannon, you're on secondary weapons and stabilisers. Got it?"

Sabine, who was already familiar with imperial hardware, nodded, and both took hold of the controls. The bomber roared to life, and straight out of the hanger. They flew to a safe distance, and then, unexpectedly, Ezra turned around and cut the engines.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Exclaimed Sabine.

"Well, I know you're not gonna wanna miss this!"

Sabine stared at the Star Destroyer, watching as the great machine of war dipped its head slowly towards the planet. It then, at once, exploded in a fiery blast, sending chunks of durasteel floating off into space.

"Well?" Asked Ezra.

"It's beautiful," Sabine gasped. "Thank you."

Ezra smiled, and turned the ship towards Lothal.

"Better ditch the ship, we can contact Kanan from my tower."

"Let me guess," chuckled Sabine. "You rescued me against his orders and now he's gonna get pretty mad."

"Aaaah, something like that." Ezra smiled, and dipped the ship towards Lothal. As he entered the atmosphere, his comlink activated.

"Spector six? Spector six? Ezra are you there?"

Ezra pulled the small device out of his utility belt, and answered.

"Yeah, Kanan, I'm here."

"Do you have Sabine with you?"

"Yeah Kanan, she's here."

"Good. If I have to yell at you for disobeying my orders, I'd prefer to yell at both of you."

"It's good to hear from you too Kanan."

Ezra heard several grumbles over the comm, and then, it was switched off. He turned to Sabine.

"He's taking it better than I thought."

Both rebels laughed happily, and the Bomber swooped over the fields and plains of Lothal, towards the Ghost.

True enough, Kanan gave Ezra a real talking to, but Ezra was so happy to see Sabine back that he didn't care that much. The fact that she was still alive and happy was all that mattered.

It always was, somehow.


	7. The Wet Season

Due to Lothal's unique rotation around its sun, the planet's year was divided into three seasons. The longest of these seasons, the Light Season, was one where the part of the planet was closest to the sun, and it beat down mercilessly on the planet, only stopped by the thick layer of clouds in the sky.

In the second season, the shortest of them, the part of the planet began to rotate away from the sun, causing all the moisture in the clouds, which had built up over the Light Season, suddenly dropped to the planet, resulting in near-constant rain. This season was called the Wet Season.

The third and final season, when the part had entered its furthermost point from the sun, was called the Winter Season, when snow came almost as frequently as the rain in the Wet Season.

A few months after Sabine's return, the Wet Season came.

Ezra, who was well aware of the seasons, having lived all his life on Lothal, had been stockpiling food in the Ghost for a while, and explained that, more often than not, it rained literally non-stop throughout the whole season, and that the shops all closed.

When the season arrived, the entire crew were cooped up in the Ghost, after it had been grounded due to the rain. There was plenty of food, and the most pressing problem was how to entertain themselves.

Zeb and Chopper contented to playing card or board games on the Holotable, sometimes accompanied by the others.

Kanan spent most of his time meditating, or playing games with the others. He especially liked card games, as the Force kinda gave him an easy and undetectable way to cheat.

Ezra, when not playing games with the crew, could be found in his room, doing all manner of things.

He used some of the time to tell Sabine stories about the LSF days. Her favourite in particular, appeared to be one where he temporarily worked with Tyber Zann and Urai Fen. Of course, it ended with Tyber betraying them all, and ordering Urai to kill them all in the dead of night.

Other activities included writing in his book.

Ezra had decided, a while ago, to write a book about his adventures with the rebels. It was now quite long, and detailed everything that had happened to him, including a drawing he did on two pages of Sabine and him holding hands. He often let Sabine read it, which she liked, because it gave her a new perspective of things.

Especially when she read his descriptions of her beauty.

Sabine liked this time of year, as it gave her lots of time to enjoy her favorite activity.

Painting.

She was often found in her room, painting a fresh canvas or the walls of their room, which Ezra liked.

She sometimes got carried away though. Ezra came back one day from a particularly vicious game of Pazzak with the rest of the crew, to find a vividly painted mural where the wall used to be. She had painted his bed bed electric blue, just like his eyes, and hers bright red. She had also painted both desks, his chest of drawers, and the floor.

Luckily, he liked it.

Another thing Ezra liked doing was learning about Mandalorian culture.

He found them very interesting, everything from the poetry to the battles. Sabine was only too happy to teach him about all this stuff, and they spent many happy hours looking at real battle formations and learning more and more about the Warriors of Old.

One afternoon, Ezra was doing just this.

Sabine was in the living room, taking a break from painting and playing Divvorac with Chopper, when she heard something.

Music.

Beautiful music.

It was soft, and soothing, and made Sabine feel warm inside. It floated through the Ghost, and seemed to hang in the room, like mist.

Sabine didn't know where it was coming from. Kanan and Hera were both outside, so it couldn't be them. She got up, and went to look where it was coming from.

It was coming from Sabine's room. She opened the door, and looked in.

Ezra sat on his bed, his eyes closed and his head bowed. On his lap, was a Lightwyre, a kind of musical instrument. The rectangular box sat across his legs, and his hands were running up and down the Ray strand that ran from end to end inside the box. His hands were playing the instrument faster than she could comprehend, his fingers touching the strand at different points. He finished the song, and pressed the button on the side, and the light strand retracted into the box.

"That was beautiful."

Ezra jumped, and dropped the instrument. He scrambled to pick it up, and muttered:

"Oh, Sabine! I… Uh… I thought I sound-proofed the room… I mean… um…"

Sabine smiled. She always thought he looked so cute when he stammered.

"Well, you didn't. But I'm glad you didn't. That was amazing."

"R… Really?" Asked Ezra, hardly daring to believe it.

"Yeah! That was good! Where did you learn to play that thing?"

Ezra's face dropped.

"I… I learnt from… From my mother. She… Taught me just before she disappeared." He breathed deeply.

"Oh, Ezra, I'm so sorry, I didn't…"

Her voice trailed off, but Ezra just shook his head.

"No… It wasn't your fault… You didn't know." He seemed to be fighting hard not to cry now. Sabine looked at him for a minute, and then kissed him.

As they kissed, Kanan walked past their room. Sabine had carelessly left the door open. Kanan had been on his way back in from the outside check up on the Ghost, and was looking forward to a nice hot pick-me-up.

Seeing the two teenaged rebels making out was not his idea of a pick-me-up.

He stormed the rest of the way down to the kitchen. Hera was already there, making drinks for them both. Her lekku were still dripping from the rain outside.

"There you are Kanan," she exclaimed when he walked in. She changed his tune when she saw his face.

"Oh boy. What's wrong this time, love?"

"You would not **believe** what I saw them doing!" Kanan said through gritted teeth, pointing at the hallway behind him.

"I know," said Hera, who had indeed walked past them earlier. "And frankly, I'm just happy for them that they're finally moving things along.

Kanan seemed very angry at the reaction he was getting. He took the drink from Hera, and stood looking out the window, at the rain outside.

"Tomorrow, Ezra Bridger, you and I, and going to have a talk."


	8. Attachment

"Ezra?"

Kanan stood in the doorway of Ezra's room, staring at the young Lothalian. Sabine looked over from her painting.

"Ezra, can I talk to you for a second please?"

Ezra looked confused. He put the datapad he was holding and stood up.

"Sure Kanan." He said, slightly uneasily. Sabine got up to follow them, but Kanan stopped her.

"Alone?" He said, staring at Sabine. She looked at Ezra, who nodded. She sat back down. She tried to go back to her painting, but couldn't concentrate. She was on the verge of going to see if they were done yet, when she heard angry shouting coming from down the corridor.

"-AND JUST BECAUSE YOU NEVER LOVED ANYONE, JUST BECAUSE THE BEST KISS YOU EVER GOT WAS FROM YOUR PARENTS, DOESN'T MEAN… WHAT? OOH YOU TAKE THAT BACK, YOU JUST CAN'T TAKE THE FACT THAT YOU NEVER FELT IT!"

The door opened and Ezra stormed into the room and collapsed onto his bed. Sabine put down her Spray Painter, and tried to think of something comforting to say. However, as hard as she tried, there just didn't seem to be any words that would help.

They both sat in silence for a while, and then Ezra spoke up.

"Why does Kanan hate it so much?"

He seemed to be talking more to himself than to anyone else.

"He just hates the fact that, well, I'm in love. I don't understand it."

He turned to face her.

"Sabine, you know I love you with all my heart. But, why does Kanan hate that so much?"

Sabine took a deep breath, and exhaled before answering.

"You know what I think it is?" She said, moving to sit next to Ezra. "I think he's afraid."

Ezra raised his head off the bed slightly.

"What?"

"I mean, maybe he's afraid of attachment. He grew up learning that attachment was a bad thing, from what you told me, so maybe he's just scared for you?"

Ezra looked at her. He appeared to be thinking hard. She could almost see his brain working. Then he chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Sabine demanded.

"Nothing," said Ezra. "It's just that, I've been faced down by charging Reeks, screaming Acklays, murderous bounty hunters, you name it. I've stared down the barrel of a blaster more times than I can count, and yet, I'm still being taught human feelings by a renegade Mandalorian vigilante/demolitions expert."

Sabine smiled. Despite everything he had been through, Ezra still retained his sense of humour.

She checked the door was closed, and then pulled Ezra in close to her. She kissed him, and he kissed her back. And at that moment, all his troubles with Kanan seemed small and pitiful by comparison. Because there's never anything so reassuring, as knowing there's someone who loves you.


	9. The Winter Season

A few months passed in this fashion, before the third and final season of the year came to Lothal.

The Winter Season.

Sabine woke up early one morning. She rolled over, and saw that Ezra's bed was empty.

' _He must have gone to get some breakfast'_ she thought to herself. So she got up, dressed, and headed to the kitchen.

Sure enough, when she entered, Ezra was already there.

"Morning Sabine. Sleep well?"

"Meh, 'bout average. You?"

Ezra yawned. "Early. I think the blasted Wet Season must be nearly over. You start to wake up earlier. Oh, don't worry, I fixed breakfast already."

Sabine graciously accepted the food Ezra gave her. His cooking was, Sabine thought, better than Hera's, but of course she never said that to her. At least it wasn't Kanan's.

As they ate, Ezra stared at the roof of the Ghost most of the time, as though trying to catch a Loth-fly. Finally, he spoke his concerns.

"Do you hear that?"

Sabine strained her ears, but she couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

"I don't hear anything."

"Exactly."

Suddenly, it hit Sabine. The sound of rain drumming against the roof of the Ghost had become more of a constant sound rather than something you actually paid attention to. Like the sound of you chewing or breathing. But now it wasn't there. The same thought appeared to have struck Ezra, and he put his plate down and ran to the window. He peered out, and then literally jumped for joy.

Sabine looked outside.

Snow.

Not the kind of snow she was used to, all hard and grey, back on Mandalore. But soft, white snow, falling slowly and making everything look that much more beautiful.

The ground itself was unseen, as it was all covered in powdery white snow, looking knee-deep. Capital City itself was covered in a thick blanket of snow. Ezra was jumping around the room, looking for the first time in years like that bright-eyed and enthusiastic young street-rat they had met all that time ago.

"Finally! Welcome, Sabine, to the Winter Season."

Sabine just stared, and mouthed to word, _wow_ , for that was all she could think to say.

"So this is what real snow looks like."

Once the rest of the rebels had woken up, Ezra explained to them what was really so good about the ground being six feet under.

"So, the Winter Season has two celebrations, the biggest of the year. The first happens in a week or two, and that's the Festival Of Hearts."

"Festival Of Hearts?" Repeated Kanan. "What in blazes is that?"

"That's the Lothal celebration of family, or…" He glanced at Sabine. "Loved ones."

And awkward silence followed Ezra's voice for a second. Kanan looked at though he wanted to say something, but Hera gave him a hard jab in the ribs. Ezra swallowed, and continued.

"It's a huge celebration, there's a festival in the city, and fireworks, it's amazing."

"The other celebration," Ezra went on, "is called Winter's Day. It's the biggest holiday of the year. It's in celebration of the life here. There used to be this tree that grew only on this planet, but now we can only get it from offworld importers. And you put one up in your home, and you decorate it, and on the day, you give each other presents!"

Sabine found the idea of the holidays quite nice, and that was before Ezra took her out to the snow.

The two wore warm clothes, and carried bottles of warm drinks. Ezra showed Sabine how to make snow creations, snow forts and most importantly, how to have a snowball fight.

Now, Sabine found anything to do with action quite promising, and the idea of having a firefight without actually hurting each other seemed too good to be true.

So, that was how, every time any of the crew stepped outside, for any reason, they would more often than not find themselves in the middle of a crossfire between huge snow forts raining cold

frosty hell down on each other. And that was before Ezra showed Sabine bobsledding.

Imagine riding a bicycle with no wheels down a steep hill in snow.

Yeah, that was what it was like riding speeder bikes with the repulsorlifts turned off down said steep hill in the snow.

Not to say Sabine didn't like it though.

Sledging down a steep hill at breakneck speed with absolutely no way of steering?

Best times of her life.

So on this went for a week or so, before the Festival Of Hearts rolled around.


	10. The Festival Of Hearts

Sabine returned to the Ghost early one afternoon, dripping wet and covered in snow. Hera was waiting with a hot thermos for her. Sabine graciously accepted the warm drink, and chugged down half its contents. She then walked back to her room.

Ezra was there, already in his normal outfit, and clean and dry. He looked up as Sabine entered.

"Ah, there you are. Hold still."

Sabine closed her eyes, and at once her clothes became warm and dry.

"You're really getting good with that aren't you?"

"Thanks." Said Ezra. He had indeed been working on perfecting the Force technique of removing water molecules from solid objects.

"Hey Sabine?"

"Yeah?" Asked Sabine.

"Well, tomorrow's the Festival Of Hearts, and there's supposed to be this big celebration going on that night. I was wondering if you wanted to…"

"Only if you want to." Smiled Sabine, forestalling the question.

Ezra blushed furiously.

"Uh… Yeah. Yeah I do."

The next day, Ezra couldn't help but notice that everyone was being a bit nicer in general to everyone else.

Hera made breakfast for everyone, Kanan let them all take the day off, Chopper was being (or trying to look like it) a little less grumpy than usual, and even Zeb found it in his heart to go the whole day without pulling a practical joke or making fun of anyone. Ezra was bracing himself for when the other shoe dropped.

But he couldn't really worry about that right then. He had his own problem to deal with.

Sabine was, in fact, the first to notice this. He seemed to become really nervous when talking to her, and he hadn't written a single word in his book. He even turned down Sabine's offer of a snowball fight.

In reality, he was trying to make a very tough decision. One that would affect his life and his relationship with Sabine.

Forever.

Finally, he decided that the only thing for it was to go and talk to Hera. She could help him.

Ezra found Sabine in the cockpit.

"Hey Hera, can I talk to you a sec?"

"Sure, Ezra, what's wrong?"

Ezra bit his tongue, and stared at the door behind him.

"Ok, before I say anything, I want you to promise that you will not tell anyone. What I say here, stays here, ok?"

"Sure. I promise, just what's bothering you?"

Ezra took one last glance at the door, and then started talking.

Hours later, night had fallen, and the Festival Of Hearts began.

The townsfolk had really outdone themselves this year. There were food stalls, souvenirs, everything. Sabine particularly liked the people that swallowed fire and then spat it out again in a perfect heart shape. One thing Sabine noticed about Ezra was that although he was enjoying the celebrations, he did seem to be quite nervous the whole time.

Eventually, Ezra took a deep breath, and said:

"Sabine, could you wait here for a moment? I just wanna get something."

"Oh yeah, sure," said Sabine happily. "But what is it you wanted?"

But he was already gone.

Ezra was gone for a few minutes, and when he returned, he looked even more flustered and nervous than ever. He had been about to say something, when a low whine from the loudspeakers interrupted him

"Oh!" Exclaimed Ezra. "The fireworks are starting soon! Come on!"

Ezra led Sabine out of the town, and a short distance away from it until they reached his tower. They climbed to the top floor, but Ezra just led her through the house, to a small ladder extending to a hatch in the ceiling. He climbed up, and then gestured Sabine to come up as well. At the top, Sabine gasped.

"There you go. The best view in all of Lothal."

Sabine stared around. They were quite literally on top of the tower, up next to the antenna for the Holonet. Ezra got out a couple of blankets from a nearby cupboard, and spread them onto the ground. The two sat down, and Sabine leaned against Ezra, who put his arm around her. The two stared out over Capital City, with all the lights and music of the festival still going strong.

It was very romantic.

The two cuddling there, on top of the tower, looking out at all the bright lights of Lothal… It made them feel like the last two people on earth.

One thing that may have put a damper on the occasion, had Sabine noticed it, was that Ezra kept looking at her, and then turning away and breaking into a cold sweat. Eventually, he pulled something out of his pocket.

"Sabine?"

"Yes, Ezra?"

Ezra pressed something into her hand.

Sabine picked up the object, and stared at it. It was a small, perfectly cut, heart. Just smaller than her palm, it had the initials E.B on one side and S.W on the other.

"It's a talisman. Touching it will give you strength and courage, and if you are ever in dire need of help, squeeze it, and think of me. And wherever I am, wherever you are, I will help you."

She seemed to be fighting back tears now. She hugged Ezra.

Ezra hugged her, and felt tears running down his back. Many things went through his head right then, but the only thing that he could bring himself to say was:

"I love you Sabine."

"I love you Ezra."

Ezra let go of her. He grabbed something else from his pocket, and turned to face her.

"Sabine, I love you with all my heart. When you were captured, I felt that my heart had been torn apart. It made me realise how much I need you. I want to be there to protect you. I want to be with you. Sabine, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Sabine gasped at these last words and put a hand to her mouth. Ezra got down on one knee, and produced a small box.

"Sabine Wren, will you marry me?"

"YES!"

Sabine slipped on the ring, and kissed Ezra. At that moment, the fireworks went off, as red and white sparks flashed over Lothal.

However long they stayed there the two rebels didn't know. It could have been minutes, or hours, or possibly several moonlit days. Time seemed lost in all meaning, for this was a special moment, which they shared together.

And it was the happiest moment in both of their lives.

 **The End.**


	11. Epilogue

**epilogue**

The vast mobs of people had slowed traffic to a standstill. There was no way Hera, Kanan and Zeb were getting through on speeders. Not that it was a problem. The event deserved a celebration.

For the Emperor was dead. Killed above the forest moon of Endor. And without him and Darth Vader, who had also been killed, the Empire was rudderless. Everywhere the rebels looked, LSF agents were mopping up the last of the troopers. The Empire was doomed, left without power or fear. They would still exist for years to come, and it would take many more battles and lives lost, but now, they would be a thorn in the side of the galaxy, rather than a sword.

But the rebels had other matters. They pushed their way through the crowd, until they found who they were looking for.

Ezra Bridger stood outside the government building. Rawthron stood with him, holding a datapad. Sabine stood next to her husband, and waved at the oncoming sight of the Jedi, the Lasat, and the Twi-Lek. Ezra greeted them with open arms.

"Ah, there you are! I'm just getting everything sorted out for the LSF and I'll be right with you."

Ezra murmured some more things to Rawthron, and the commander walked away. Ezra had exchanged his orange Lothal jumpsuit for a black suit, used by the old politicians of Lothal.

"I was just sending assistance to our neighbouring systems, they still need help with the Imperial problem."

"Good to see you Ezra. And wow, look at you! Governor of Lothal! What an honour!" Kanan exclaimed.

"Thank you, Kanan." The Jedi Knight answered.

"You okay there Sabine?" Asked Hera.

"I'm great."

"Sabine here," continued Ezra. "Is going to be the new Vice Governor on Lothal!"

Hera squealed with delight. Sabine kissed Ezra. Kanan and Zeb just smiled and said,

"congratulations."

This was the end of Ezra's first adventure, but the beginning of many more. As Governor of Lothal, leader of the LSF and rebel, he had many more travels and defeated many more a foe, with his wife, Sabine, along at his side.

And this, is about as happy an ending as anyone could ever hope for.


	12. Authors note

**Hi everyone!**

 **Now that the story has officially finished, I can say that the trilogy is over. All is right with the rebels, and a happy ending for all.**

 **Now, first order of buesness, I would like to thank all the dedicated readers who have stuck by Sabine, Ezra, Rawthron, and all the others. You guys rock the house, and you're continued support and dedication is the only thing that kept me going to the end. Knowing that you all enjoy it.**

 **Ok, last thing, I still plan to keep writing fan fictions. If anyone has any ideas on plot lines, please send them to me. Either PM me or write it in the comments of any one of my stories. I will only write fan fictions for Star Wars Rebels. Please send me them and I will check, and hopefully write full stories on them. And yes, you will get the credit for coming up with the plot.**

 **Anyway, this trilogy is done, and now it's time to just sit back, and let GOVERNER Ezra and VICE GOVERNER Sabine live the rest of their lives in happiness.**

 **Hope to hear your ideas from you soon, otherwise this is Starnova1122, signing off!**


End file.
